Now that the Atlanta Falcons have put him back full-time at defensive end Kenny Moore Jersey , he’s looking to regain the form that made him the NFL sacks leader two years ago.

Beasley, though, isn’t making big promises in the second week of training camp. As much as he wants to get back to the top, he says the best approach is to stay humble, fill his role and let everything else work itself out.

”I know the guys have a lot of faith in me and the coaches do also, so we’re just going to go out there and give our best effort and do what we can to get where we want to be,” Beasley said Wednesday.

The Falcons had solid results last season under first-year defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel. They improved 17 spots to a No. 9 ranking in points allowed. They were among the top 10 in total yards, yards rushing, red zone percentage and scoring.

But Beasley was a small part of the story. He had just five sacks, 10 1/25 fewer than during his first season under coach Dan Quinn, and he wanted to produce more.

Moving to outside linebacker on 30 percent of the snaps didn’t help. Beasley dropped some weight to play the new position and he ran so much in coverage and in defending the run that his energy level sometimes lagged when he lined up at end. He didn’t have the same explosiveness coming out of his stance and beating blocks.

”He was always a nickel defensive end,” Quinn said. ”We played almost 70 percent of our snaps in nickel, but in the base one Eddie Goldman Jersey , due to injuries, that’s why we moved him there. He was there a little bit by necessity, and sometimes that’s the best thing to do. For us it was in this case.”

Not anymore. Quinn wants to unleash Beasley exclusively at end with Takk McKinley starting on the opposite side after a promising rookie season.

”That’s where he’s best,” Quinn said, ”playing defensive end all the time.”

Beasley took some pointers Wednesday from former Falcons ends Patrick Kerney and Chuck Smith, who combined for 141 NFL sacks. He got two different perspectives in technique. Kerney played long and rangy. Smith was more compact. Both gave Beasley a few ideas about timing, footwork and hand placement.

Beasley gets daily suggestions from his position coach Bryant Young, the former San Francisco star tackle who finished a 14-year career in 2007 with 89 1/2 sacks.

Young believes Beasley’s time at linebacker will benefit him long-term because it’s made him better against the run.

”He’s a very strong individual, plays with good technique, and I think a lot of times he doesn’t get credit for his run game, which is really important in this league as well,” Young said. ”The big, pretty numbers are in the sacks http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com...wry-jersey , and we understand that, but it’s also important that you stop the run.”

Beasley is eager to show what he can do. He played end exclusively throughout his career before last year.

”As a linebacker you normally drop into coverage and you dial up blitzes every now and then, but as a defensive end you’re pretty much a straight-ahead guy,” Beasley said. ”Just get after the quarterback.”

—

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays, routinely using relievers as starters to deal with a rash of injuries, are pitching their way to victories.

The Rays (37-40) go into a two-game interleague series against the Washington Nationals with the momentum of a three-game sweep of the American League East-leading Yankees. New York hadn’t lost three games in a row at any point all season, but the Rays pulled it off, capped with a 7-6 win in 12 innings on Sunday at Tropicana Field.

“That’s the best team in the league right now, them and the Astros … I think coming home from that we had confidence and it all carried over into that series,” said Rays rookie first baseman Jake Bauers, who won the game in the 12th inning.

Since beginning their experimental use of relievers as “openers” to start games, the Rays have a 3.07 ERA http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline....ett-jersey , and entering Sunday’s game, that edged the Yankees for the best ERA in baseball since May 19. They’ve won five of seven games to again challenge .500, and Sunday’s walkoff home run by Bauers was their second this season, after totaling one in three seasons from 2015 to 2017.

The Nationals (41-35) had gone 3-9 in their last 12 games before Sunday night’s rain-delayed game against the Phillies, dropping into third place in the National League East. They’ll send out Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.08 ERA), who has no wins in his last four starts and his ERA has risen from a sterling 2.10 to 3.08.

Gonzalez lasted only four innings in his last outing, giving up five hits and two runs against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. For his career against the Rays, he’s 2-2 with a 5.54 ERA, though he’s only faced Tampa Bay once since 2012. That was a rough 2015 start at Tropicana Field, lasting 3 1/3 innings and giving up five earned runs on eight hits, walking more batters than he struck out. For his career at Tropicana, he has an 11.25 ERA.

The Rays will have an actual starter on the mound in Blake Snell (9-4 Cody Whitehair Jersey , 2.48), who is in line for an All-Star appearance after the first three months of his season. He has just one loss in his last seven starts, and while he has never faced the Nationals, he has generally fared well in interleague play, going 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA in eight career starts.

Tampa Bay, hoping to build on its current momentum, has a tough week ahead, with two games against Washingto, then another four against Houston to close out the homestand.

Washington goes from St. Petersburg to a weekend four-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies before returning home for a week.

The Rays got a head start with a Sunday afternoon game and the Nationals saw their prime-time game delayed by rain, keeping them on the field beyond midnight and still needing to fly to Florida for the two-game stopover.